


Hold Me, Until My Fears Slide Away

by 5secsofsummer



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5SOS - Freeform, M/M, it's fluff, michael isn't feeling his best, so calum saves the day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 19:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2593823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5secsofsummer/pseuds/5secsofsummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael is having one of his bad days. Calum notices and makes him feel better by reminding him of how amazing he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold Me, Until My Fears Slide Away

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate feedback! Thank you for all of the reads and kudos for my last one shot, it means a lot to me!

Calum could tell there was something off with Michael. Sure, he was never one to get up early, but it was already two in the afternoon, and the guitarist was still in his bunk. They were playing a big show that evening, and the boys had planned to get backstage earlier than usual, so Calum couldn't understand why Michael was choosing the most inopportune time to sleep the day away. 

Ashton and Luke hadn't seemed very concerned with Michael's behavior. Perhaps it wasn't that strange to them, or they were just preoccupied with their own pre-show thoughts. Either way, Calum seemed to be the only one fretting. He was sitting in front of the TV, reporter for a local news station voice droning on about some heat wave in the background of Calum's thoughts. 

Calum had refused to leave the bus without making sure Michael was getting up. Luke and Ashton needed to burn off some energy before the gig, so they went for a run and offered for Calum to join them, but the bassist just didn't feel right leaving his friend behind, especially when he didn't know quite what was wrong. 

See, Calum had know Michael longer than the other boys. He knew Michael, and how there were days when he had no motivation to do anything, and just got better down in himself. At the beginning of 5sos, these days were frequent, but became further and further apart as they became more popular, and started fully living their dreams. It seemed that the hectic schedule allowed less time for Michael's mind to focus on his deep, self-deprecating feeling. Calum had been happy to see that his friend needed fewer cuddles and reassurances that yes, of course I care about you and we do need you in this band, we aren't 5sos without you. Not that Calum minded doing any of this, it just hurt him to see Michael so upset.

But when Michael still hadn't made an appearance by 2:30, Calum decided he needed to find out what was keeping Michael confined to his bunk. 

Calum pushed himself off of his spot on the couch and made his way over to the bunks. Generally, he would just rip back the curtains to Michael's bunk, laughing as the other boy swore at him for "interrupting his beauty sleep," but today, Calum felt the need to give Michael some sort of warning to his presence. 

"Mikey, hey, are you asleep?" Calum called softly, knocking on the panel of wood next to the curtain. "It's pretty late, you gotta get up now, we need to get ready for the show." Calum waited a moment, straining his ears for a reply. He was about to repeat himself when he heard a sniffle from the other side of the heavy fabric. Immediately Calum panicked, knowing Michael wasn't one to cry unless something bad happened, or he had a particularly difficult day and he just couldn't bottle up his emotions anymore. 

"Mikey, I'm coming in," Calum said, pushing the curtain to the side, and clambering into the small space. 

Michael was facing away from Calum, legs up to his chest, and arms circling around his legs. His position reminded Calum of a hurt animal, trying to protect itself, and this made his heart break. 

Quickly, Calum wrapped his arms around Michael, knowing that sometimes Michael just needed a cuddle to show that people cared about him.

"Mikey, what's wrong?" Calum questioned after a few moments of silence, with Michael's elbow digging into Calum's ribs.

Michael cleared his throat before mumbling a response into his pillow.

“You’ve gotta speak up a bit, Mikey. I can’t understand a word you’re saying,” Calum said gently, so as not to frighten Michael into silence again. He rubbed Michael’s arm softly, soothing the older boy.

“I’m just having a bad day. Like I messed up on stage last night, and normally I don’t care too much, like I practice and get it right the next night, you know? But then I saw the link going all around twitter, and the comments were worse than usual, and I’m already missing home, and I just feel awful right now, Cal,” Michael choked out, before burying his head further into his pillow.

Calum squeezed Michael tighter, his heart breaking at the sound of Mikey’s upset voice. “It’s okay Mikey, just let it out. You’re absolutely okay, you don’t need to worry. You’re super talented, and it’s okay to mess up. I do it all the time! Didn’t you hear me forget the words to Heartbreak Girl last night? It happens to all of us.” Michael’s breathing evened out slightly, the gentle vibrations of Calum’s voice bringing him back from his mental battle with himself. Calum was just so familiar and Michael couldn’t express how much Calum meant to him. He just always knew exactly when Michael was getting down on himself, and what he needed to hear to feel better. 

Michael rolled over, allowing himself to be enveloped by everything Calum, the always-too-warm body and familiar cologne surrounding Michael. Calum gasped a bit when Michael placed his perpetually cold feet on his legs to warm them, a particularly annoying habit of Michael’s. 

“I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but I’m just so oversensitive, and I can’t handle anything, and I am going to be terrible at the show tonight because I can’t focus and I really don’t deserve to be in this band,” Michael rushed out, his words slightly muffled by Calum’s black t-shirt.

Calum sighed. It wasn’t the first time Michael had said such things to Calum, and each time Calum’s heart hurt just thinking about how the Mikey truly believed that he didn’t belong in the band, which of course, was a complete lie. Michael belong in the band just as much as the other boys, they wouldn’t be 5 Seconds of Summer if they weren’t all there, rocking out on stage together. 

“Michael, you need to listen to me, like actually listen, not just say you are like when your mum tells you to stop dying you hair.”

Michael groaned in protest, “Hey! I have a perfectly good reason for not listening her, my hair is amazing and she does not appreciate how cool it looks!”

“I know Mikey, we all love your hair, though to be fair, if you aren't careful, there won’t be any left to dye! But back to what I was saying. You do deserve to be in this band. You work so hard, and you’re insanely talented, not only at playing the guitar, but as a singer, and you’re the perfect mix of sassy and kind to everyone. I’m not quite sure how you pull it off, but you do, and it’s amazing. And sure, you might be sensitive about comments from fans, and people in general, but that just means that you care. You want to make the best music possible, and you just worry when other people don’t appreciate all that you do. You haven’t messed up at all, you’re going to calm down, warm up, and rock the show tonight. We are all going to get out there and show the fans how awesome our band can be.” 

Calum continued to rub his hand over Michael’s back , feeling the bumps of his shoulder blades and spine interrupt the smooth circles his hand was making. Michael took some deep breaths, taking in everything Calum had said (yes, he did actually listen to the whole speech). 

“Hey Cal?”

“Yeah Mikey?”

“You know that means a lot to me, for you to say that stuff. I know that you actually mean it, so even if I can’t believe all of it right now, I know that you do, and that makes everything a lot better. So thanks, for just knowing what I needed to hear. Even when I don’t know.” Michael could feel the blush spread across his pale cheeks. He may be quite sensitive, but he didn’t spill his heart out often, even to Calum. He tended to harbor his emotions, and let them out at inconvenient times, like a few hours before one of the biggest shows he had ever played. 

“I know, Mikey. I’ll always believe in you,” Calum whispered into Michael’s vibrantly red hair, the guitarist curling further into him in a show of appreciation and comfort. The two boys cuddled in silence for a few minutes. Michael’s cold feet still resting against Calum’s leg, and Calum still tracing shaped onto Michael’s back. 

Suddenly, the door to the bus slammed, and the familiar sound of Ashton’s laughter reached the boys’ ears. Both Michael and Calum smiled at the sound of it, wondering why mischief the other half of the band had gotten into, while they were out.

Calum nudged Michael’s foot with his leg, “Let’s go to the lounge. We can have a nice band cuddle before heading backstage. Is that okay?” Michael nodded his head against Calum’s chest in agreement, but still whined when Calum removed himself, and his heat, from the bunk. 

“If you stop whining, I’ll give you a piggy-back ride,” Calum bribed. Michael quickly slid out of the bunk and jumped onto Calum back, causing the bassist to grown under the weight of the other six-foot boy.

The two made their way to the lounge, interrupting Ashton’s retelling of some ridiculous thing he had said an hour before. Ashton seemed annoyed by the interruption, whereas Luke looked pleased to have the story stopped, seeing as Ashton had forgotten that Luke was there for the actual event. 

“Hey guys, Michael needs a cuddle before the show, okay?”

“I think we can make that happen!” Ashton said, already wrapping his arms around Calum and Michael. Luke came over, his long arms straining to reach around the mass of boys. 

The band tumbled to the ground when Calum began tipping over, and many complaints were heard from each boy about various limbs being crushed. Calum noticed Mikey smiling and laughing though, clearly more at ease, making Calum feel better knowing that Michael would be okay, as long as he and the boys were there for him, and each other.


End file.
